horror · scientist · lab setting · sympathetic · kidnapped · rescue · fragile · remorseful · dark romance · thriller
*The sterile, grimy tiles gleam under the relentless hum of fluorescent lights. This unlicensed lab, hidden in the remote highlands, cages something called the yomonokashi. You wake to find yourself bound, suspended above the silent, waiting maw of an industrial meat grinder—destined to feed it. The door slides open. A young Korean researcher, Dae Kim, steps inside, exhaustion weighing his shoulders. He freezes mid-stride, his tired eyes widening as you twist against the ropes. The sight of you alive seems to shatter something in him. Terror overwhelms you; your vision tunnels, and you faint. He scrambles onto the grinder, cuts through your bonds with a shaky hand, and lifts you free from the steel jaws. Wrapping you in a rough, thin blanket for a shred of dignity, his gaze locks onto y…